A Spark in The Dark
by SilverMidnightMoon
Summary: Three dragons. One quest. One prophecy. "Fire and Ice, Dark and Light, Unless you seek them, face their blight. Beware the shadows with secrets, and the rays with hope, for they carry the burden at the end of your rope." An unknown destiny for all. Collaboration with Pondfrost! T for violence
1. Prologue

**Hi! It's me- Midnight! I am working on a collaboration with the one - the only - PONDFROST! *Pondfrost bows* This is my first WoF story, so forgive me for any mess ups. XD**

 **Here is the prologue of-**

 **A Spark in the Dark!**

* * *

The small sand-colored dragon grasped the bundle of rags she was carrying in her claws as tightly as she could, struggling through a relentless blizzard. The wind pounded snow against her scales as they slowly froze over and her breaths were ragged. She stumbled forward, gasping at the sight that lay before her. The border between IceWing territories and SandWing territories. She leapt over it as fast as she could, the ice on her scales reaching her stomach. She used her front claws to pull herself to a small town that lay just beyond the blizzard, guarded by two SandWings with black armor. The gates behind them were a black iron, twisting in thorn patterns. Their eyes were black as well, with no pupils.

"Please...help..." the small dragon gasped to the larger ones. The two guards looked to each other, and at the small dragon whose claws now became pure ice.

"Why?" the first guard asked bluntly. The smaller dragon recoiled in shock. "Your scales are freezing over. Obviously the work of an IceWing. If we were to offer asylum to one that they had persecuted...well..." the guard didn't finish, the obvious implication hanging in the air. The smaller dragon nearly fainted at their lack of compassion. Her neck turned to ice.

"Please...," she cried. The second guard spoke this time.

"Leave, peasant," he growled, threatening her with his spear. The small dragon tried to reply, but her words were caught in her throat. By ice. She coughed, her head freezing over. Her screams tore through the air as the guards unsympathetically watched. Finally, she froze, falling to the ground. The rags in her claws shook, and a small oval shaped object tumbled out. An egg, the color of the sun.

"Well, look at what we have here," the second guard grinned evilly. "A SandWing egg. Pathetic." The first guard turned to the second.

"We should bring it to Teacher, Rock," he decided, picking up the egg. Rock nodded to the first, and watched him leave with the egg into the village. Then he glared at the frozen SandWing.

"A disgrace," he spat at the dragon. Then he grabbed his spear and smashed her, the ice spraying everywhere. He nodded in satisfaction, and resumed his duty of guarding the village gates.

* * *

Far away, a single egg lay in the dunes of the desert on the other side of the village. It was black like a NightWing's, with no traces of silver. It seemed almost lifeless. Then, a strong gust of wind caused it to roll. It rolled into the side of a lone merchant's hind claw, and he looked down.

"Ha," the SandWing merchant smirked. "The weak NightWings decide to abandon their own kind? Typical NightWing." He grabbed the egg in his claw and tossed it into his cart. Then, he grabbed his cart and traveled to the village that shared the IceWing territory border. A guard that had black armor, Rock, stopped him before the gate.

"Halt," the guard blocked the gate with his spear. "State your purpose and your cargo."

"I am a merchant, here to sell his wares," the merchant stated. "I have a ruby necklace from the SkyWing jewels themselves, two barrels of cow meat, five shells, a frozen flower, and a NightWing egg." Rock looked curiously at the guard at the mention of the egg.

"You may pass," Rock reluctantly decided, lifting his spear away and opening the gate. "But you must give the egg to Teacher." the merchant's eyes widened at the mention of Teacher.

"Yes, sir," he feebly whimpered, rushing through the gates with his cart.

* * *

A beautiful SandWing sat upon a golden throne that overlooked a large room. Two guards were posted on each side of her, each wearing black armor and standing as still as statues. In the SandWing's claws lay two eggs; one NightWing and one SandWing. She pondered over what to do with these eggs.

Then she knew.

Teach them.

"Your are Shining Ray," she pointed to the SandWing egg. Then she turned to the other egg. "And you, Dark Shadow. My new Students."

* * *

 **So, what did you think? Cliff Hanger? Thanks for reading!**

 **Next chapter by: Pondfrost!**

 ****

 **See ya!**

 **~Midnight**


	2. Chapter 1

**Welcome, welcome, everyone, to CHAPTER 1! Written by Pondfrost.**

 **SilverMidnightMoon: I will reply to all the EPIC AND SUPER KIND reviews next chapter!**

"Eclipse, get up or so help me I will tear your wings off and feed them to the sheep!" Avalanche screeched.

Eclipse rolled over, groaning. She covered her head with her wings in mock surrender, waiting for the inevitable yank from Avalanche.

"How does a dragon sleep that long?" The exasperated voice of Eclipse's best and only friend resonated entirely too loudly in the little cave that served as Eclipse's sleeping and thinking place. "I've been up since sunrise!"

"And you're the RainWing," Eclipse muttered to herself, rolling free of the animal hides in a messy pile that had, moments ago, kept her cozy and sleeping.

"What?" Avalanche yelled, sounding further away.

"Nothing! I'm getting up!" Eclipse called back nervously.

Avalanche was touchy about her RainWing roots, insisting that just because her father had been half-RainWing didn't mean she was a lazy vegetarian like him. Her SeaWing mother was definitely the biggest provider of Avalanche's sunny, energetic personality. _Sarcasm sarcasm._ Eclipse thought to herself as she plodded over to the little shard of reflective material they had found once. Any dragon would think she's a SandWing. But no, definitely IceWing-SeaWing-RainWing. Truly a water dragon.

She snatched up her favourite necklace, a long, elegant black chain with a pendant made of twisting, iridescent black wire that formed a little tree with golden stones embedded within.

Dropping it over her neck, she examined her reflection for a moment.

Still a gangly disaster of a dragon, a SkyWing to the untrained eye.

It was true that any passerby had assumed she was a SkyWing, just as they assumed Avalanche was a RainWing. Only a couple distinguishing features were what had thrown them out of their tribes, caused their parents to abandon two-year-old dragonets on the side of the mountain.

First, Eclipse's long, IceWing spines, trailing all the way down her back. They might have been blood red, fading into gold, but no SkyWing had such long, thick spikes. Second, the undersides of her wings.

The only evidence of her NightWing-IceWing mother were the spines, and the undersides of her wings. While the tops were red-gold, just like any other SkyWing, the undersides were whiter than a seagull, almost blindingly white, save for the light speckle of black dots spanning across them.

Avalanche, on the other claw, had a simpler time disguising herself because of the ease with which she could change her scales. It was just the glow-in-the-dark patches and strips, the mark of every SeaWing, that stopped her disguise from being perfect. That, and her IceWing spines. They were pale blue, but noticeable all the same, even while Avalanche turned herself completely light blue to match.

They were hybrids, branded dirty and useless by their tribes before they had even been old enough to prove others wrong.

But Eclipse wouldn't change their lives for all the scrolls in the world. And that was saying a lot, considering how much she loved to read. _Our lives are simple. Quiet. Everything I could wish for. I don't need anything except Avalanche and my scrolls._

"Hurry up!" Avalanche screeched, snapping Eclipse back to the present. "I'm leaving without you!"

"Wait!" Eclipse called back.

"What?" Avalanche responded irritatedly.

"How was your morning?" She offered cheerfully.

"Lonely," Avalanche pouted at her, strolling casually into the cave. "I made some stew. It's over there. Somewhere. I'm taking some of my drawings to the SandWing market if you want me to bring your scrolls."

"No!" Eclipse squeaked, snatching up a few bundles of scrolls off her desk and clutching them to her chest. "No one can read them!"

"Whatever," Avalanche rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Are you at least going to let me read what you wrote yesterday?"

Eclipse shook her head vehemently. "No! You'll think I'm crazy!"

"And that would change what, exactly? I don't think you're crazy!" Avalanche smiled amiably at her, then it changed to a smirk. "I know it."

Eclipse used her tail to smack one of Avalanche's wings, and Avalanche retaliated by turning herself violently lime green.

"My eyes!" Eclipse shrieked, toppling over backwards.

Avalanche muttered something along the lines of 'serves you right' and stormed of the sleeping den. _Geez._ Eclipse thought to herself, closing her eyes and tuning herself to Avalanche's strings. Red and yellow. Angry and irritated. _Wow, she must be in a bad mood… I should cheer her up later._

She made a quick, scribbly note on one of her loose scrolls with a leaking quill, dropping ink blots all over her talons, right next to the other ink stains. She wrinkled her snout at them, figuring they would just come back in days if she cleaned them.

Collapsing into her lump of animal hides, she sighed heavily. Avalanche will come around. She always does. Until then…

Eclipse lifted a scroll gently and picked up a soft, feathered quill made of a turkey feather. She stumbled her way over to a chair and sat, quickly rereading the scroll she'd begun yesterday. It was just a silly little romance story about a SandWing and a SeaWing, in love as their tribes were at war.

 _"But Tide, your commander nearly caught us last time," Mirage protested weakly, staring into the smoldering green eyes._

"No, smolder would work for her, she's a SandWing, but he's a SeaWing. Something water related, perhaps," Eclipse spoke out loud quietly, irritation creeping into her voice. "Maybe… hmmm."

 _Mirage protested weakly, staring into his shimmering green eyes that swallowed her like a shark would a shoal of fish._

"Ugh. I've been stuck on this line for nearly a day now!" Eclipse exclaimed, frustrated. "How about…"

 _Mirage protested weakly, staring into his emerald eyes that roiled and clashed like a stormy sea. Her heart pounded in her chest, knowing that she could never say no to the dragon she loved._

"Three moons, why is this so hard to write?" Eclipse threw the scroll across the room, furious. "I guess it would be easier if I knew anything about love!"

Suddenly, a pale blue and sunflower-yellow head popped into the cave where she was. Avalanche.

"Ooh, writing romance today?" Avalanche grinned wolfishly at her. "Lemme see."

"No!" Eclipse squealed, diving for the scroll at the same time Avalanche did.

Their heads connected with a noise similar to a coconut hitting the ground.

"Yowch!" Eclipse reeled backwards, holding her stinging head.

"'Mirage, I'd do anything for you, my love!'" Avalanche read dramatically, the scroll clutched in her talons, killing herself laughing. "'But Tide, your commander nearly caught us last time!' Ooh, it's getting juicy! 'My love, not even the queens can stop this love! I'd swim a thousand oceans for you!' Aw… so cute!"

"Give that back!" Eclipse covered her face, mortified. "This is an invasion of privacy!"

"'One day, we shall be together," Avalanche could barely stand up, she was laughing so hard, "but until our day comes, I shall continue to try to convince Queen Ocean.' 'And I will speak with Queen Desert Lily.' Lovely name choices, by the way. 'Please, Mirage, one more day together. We can do anything you want.' 'Tide, you know our tribes meant for us to be apart; I cannot swim and you can't stand the heat of the desert…' 'Tide clutched her talons desperately, begging her silently with his green oceans of eyes-' that's a good one, how long did it take you to think of? '-to let them have one more day together before war exploded and their love was washed away like a sandcastle beneath the salty waves of their tears.' And you're not letting me read the stuff you write? This is fantastic! How did you learn to write like this?"

Eclipse couldn't even speak, she was so embarrassed at the way Avalanche was reading what she wrote. "Leave me alone! That's private! You can't just storm in here and take whatever I'm writing and read it and-"

"I'm sorry, really," Avalanche sobered, holding one of Eclipse's talons in hers. "You can have the scroll back. But don't you realize that there's nothing to be afraid of? You could be a famous author one day, with all this!"

"I'm not that good," Eclipse looked at her pleadingly. "Don't you get it? There are plenty of writers out there; nobody wants to read the random, trashy romances that one dirty hybrid that has no idea what she's talking about has written."

"Eclipse, can you hear yourself? This isn't you!" Avalanche's bright golden-green eyes searched her. "Who said this to you? I swear, if it was that piece of cow Cactus, I'm going to shoot venom down his ears."

Eclipse just turned away.

With a loud whoosh, Avalanche took off and left Eclipse staring herself down in the mirror.

 _Your fault._ Her mind whispered.

 _Go away._ Eclipse snapped. _I've enough to deal with without my conscience piping up everything three seconds._

 _You knew she was angry._

 _Of course I knew she was angry._ She told the voice, annoyed. _You live in my head; you know how I can… do things._

 _It's not a real NightWing power._ The voice snapped.

 _It's enough for me. I wouldn't want to be able to read minds anyways, too much pressure._ She hooked a thick gold and purple armband and clicked it onto her forearm.

"Avalanche?" She called, hoping that her best friend would answer.

No such luck. _Whatever. I'll catch up to her. Her wings are like leaves._ Eclipse told herself, picking up the last piece of jewelry.

An earring, a silver snake with little red rubies for eyes. Given to her by her mother or father, the only thing she had as her traitorous parents abandoned her. Wearing it made her feel confident and powerful, even though it did dredge up hazy and horrible memories of her parents.

Brushing the thoughts off, she silently walked into the larger cave that was the main living space of Avalanche and Eclipse's home. _Still the same. Scrolls and crumbs everywhere, except Avalanche's little drawing spot._ Eclipse thought happily. _Maybe I'll write later. For now, FOOD!_

She charged to the sheer edge of the ledge outside their cave and launched herself off it skilfully.

Flying was the best feeling in the world. She stopped being gangly and unbalanced and started being graceful. Every limb stopped pretending to be in separate starring roles in musicals and started working together in a perfect symphony of flight.

 _That's the SkyWing part talking._ Her mind told her cynically.

 _That's ME talking._ Eclipse snapped back, the brief moment of annoyance swept away as she continued to fly and glide through the air. _I love flying._

"Avalanche?" She called. "Where aaaare you?"

Scanning the underlying forest for a glimmer of a light blue spikes, she glided lower to aid herself. _No sign of Avalanche… but- wait!_

 _There she is._ Eclipse thought, diving down to alight gently on the forest floor. _I'm going to surprise her!_ She grinned, ducking lower in the forest foliage.

She could barely see a couple glimmers of light blue and the occasional gold shimmer. _Gold shimmer? Weird disguise, Avalanche. The point is for the prey not to see you._ Speaking of prey… what exactly was she stalking? Eclipse could tell from her poise and posture that she was definitely stalking something… but what? _Or who?_ A dark voice whispered.

She tuned into the dragon's strings, hoping to get some idea, and found something shocking.

They definitely weren't Avalanche's strings, short but thick. These were long, elegant spidersilk strings, coloured palely, not as vibrant as Avalanche. _That's not Avalanche._ She realized with a shiver.

Suddenly, the blue and gold flashed as the dragon pounced.

Onto Eclipse.

Cliffhanger.

 **So praps not the most amazing first chapter in life, but this was (believe it or not) my first time ever writing WoF fanfictions.**

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget a review on your way out!**

 **~Pondfrost**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey again! This chapter is written by Midnight!**

 **Thanks for all of the support for our story! It really means a lot to us!**

 **Reviews:**

 **LemonDrops334 (both reviews) ~ I'll have to ask Pondfrost. I think they might be their emotions or thoughts...? Thank you so much!**

 **Hazeldapple~ Thanks for the support! Honestly, this has been one of my favorite projects so far!**

 **Emberfur28~ It's basically _waaaaay_ after. Thanks!**

 **Cascade of Raining Ice~ Thank you!**

 **Note: This takes place a few days before the last chapter, until there is a transition. Then it is the same time as last chapter. (Kind confusing, but you'll see)**

* * *

Chapter Two

Hail woke up, unfurling her long, icy blue wings. She shivered as a wave of heat struck them, the cold ice underfoot barely affecting her scales. She slowly sat up, wincing as the sun blinded her momentarily from a window. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her surroundings, studying every inch of her room. Her bed lay in the corner, large and made of only ice. A blanket of polar bear fur covered it. The walls were made of ice, and a small desk was in the corner nearest the door. The room was shockingly bright. She snorted, glaring at the shined walls. Every small patch of ice had been polished.

"Hail Blaze," a voice boomed outside her door, startling Hail momentarily. "May I come in?" Hail's eyes widened in recognition of the voice.

 _No no no, not when I timed my escape so perfectly,_ she inwardly moaned, bracing herself for the dragon to enter.

"You may," she replied, her voice sounding cold and formal. She hated the sound of the words falling out of her mouth. The door slammed open, and a large IceWing stood in the doorway.

"Hail Blaze," Hail almost hissed at the mention of her full name, reminding her that she was worthless. Never to become First Circle. "You should be at breakfast." Hail looked at her father with little expression, trying to hold back the urge to attack him. His eyes gleamed with malice as he stared at Hail expectantly.

"I was preparing myself, sir," she explained, gesturing to her dirty wings. The lie slipped easily off of her tongue.

"Very well," he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Be ready for breakfast by the time the sun rises fully. Or else you get none." Hail nodded, excitement spinning through her head as her father left, slamming the door shut again. Quickly, Hail got to work. She grabbed a satchel, stuffing it with some personal items; a book, a small, red jewelry box, and a bigger blue box. She slung the satchel over her shoulder, walking over to the small washing room that was connected to her bedroom. Inside, a large granite basin full of water sat by the balcony, only two floors up. The higher the status, the higher the room. She walked over to the basin, scooping water up with her talons and running it over her wings. She polished them until they shined, taking special care not to let a detail pass by. It might be a while before she could be clean again. Hail finished quickly, suddenly glancing at herself in the basin.

Her head was long and dainty, like a SkyWing's. Long, golden IceWing spikes ran from her head to her back, shining in the bright light of the Ice Palace. Her scales were a light ice blue, fading into gold around her legs, wing tips, and tail. Her wings were extremely large, as large as a SkyWing's. She snarled at her reflection. Everywhere in the Ice Palace, things were expensive, shiny, and _beautiful._ She was an exception to most of these traits. Sure, she was shiny, but half-breeds were never beautiful, and always worthless. Hail turned away from the basin, walking over to the balcony. She admired the land below her. A vast expanse of ice and snow stretched far as the eye could see, light snow falling from densely packed grey clouds. Everything was seemingly calm and tranquil.

"So long, walrus-brains," she muttered, spreading her wide wings and slowly lifting into the air. Hail ascended into the sky, not even bothering to look back. Here old life was over. No more disappointed Father, no more condescending royalty. She was her own dragon. And no one could stop her now.

* * *

It had been two days since Hail had ran away from all that she had ever known. And she was _bored._ Sure, the thrill at the beginning was fun, but now her travels were exhausting, hunger filled, and endless. She had reached the RainWing forests, landing there with the intent to search for food. Even if it was a _plant,_ she was fully prepared to feast. She gripped her satchel tightly, wishing that she had remembered to bring the necessary supplies.

Suddenly, a flash swiped by the corner of her vision, multicolored. _Food,_ she realized, getting into a crouch. Her muscles tensed up, ready to spring.

Hail leapt onto her prey, gasping when she saw it.

The prey wasn't prey.

It was a dragon.

* * *

 **A bit of a plot twist has happened here! Whoa!**

 **Question of the Chapter: Who do you think Hail Blaze, Eclipse, and Avalanche are? What will happen when Eclipse ad Hail formally meet?**

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to fave/follow/review! Check out the survey on my profile if you can!**

 **See ya!**

 **~Midnight**


	4. Chapter 3

**Back from the dead! Woop woop!**

* * *

As the suddenly very unfamiliar dragon launched themselves onto Eclipse, the reddish gold dragon let out the most undignified noise she had ever made in her life.

"Blarrgh!" She shrieked, then came to her senses and drew up to her full height, snout twisted into a snarl.

 _You just messed with the wrong half-breed,_ she thought, a threatening hiss slowly sliding into the air.

"Who are you?" She demanded, trying to buy time so she could tap back into the dragon's string.

 _C'mon, c'mon…_ She focused as hard as she could. The other dragon was saying something, but she was almost there…

Finally, she found them tangling across the dragon. _White… royal blue… and yellow? Scared, worried, and irritated. So she didn't mean to attack me, but now she's frustrated that… I'm in her way, maybe?_

"Where are you going?" She interrupted, hoping the irritation was caused by Eclipse slowing her down.

"I'm not going anywhere," the other dragon said coolly, sitting gracefully.

 _Ookay, maybe not._ Eclipse felt silly and overly aggressive still standing in a position to attack, so she too sat. "Well… you seem to be in a hurry."

"I said I'm not going anywhere," she repeated, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

 _Well that's a touchy subject… I wonder where she was headed. If she didn't want to talk about it…_ Eclipse's mind whirred with possibilities. _Maybe somewhere she wasn't supposed to? Or she's coming back from somewhere she wasn't supposed to be? Hmm…_

"Rargh!" Suddenly, a fierce battlecry came from above and the mysterious other dragon was thrown to the ground by a red and blue blur.

"Avalanche?" Eclipse asked cautiously as the stranger screeched in sudden fear and dove into the bushes.

"Aha! Run!" Eclipse's best friend's eyes flamed with the delight of the chase.

"Avalanche! Wait just a second!" Eclipse called, holding in a snort of amusement as the stranger shrieked again and switched bushes.

Avalanche dove in pursuit, but Eclipse leapt onto her and pinned her friend's wings. "Oh, no you don't."

"What are you doing?!" Avalanche demanded twisting furiously. "Lemme get her!"

"Avalanche, she wasn't attacking me," Eclipse said patiently. "Okay, she was, but she stopped when she realized I wasn't a deer, or whatever else she was going after."

"That's right!" The stranger called, sounding much more calm now that a furious RainWing/IceWing/SeaWing wasn't after her. "My name is Hail Bl- Hail."

"Hailblehail?" Avalanche repeated incredulously, wrinkling her snout. "What a terrible name. Who were your parents?"

'Hailblehail''s eyes flamed with annoyance, but her voice was level as she said, "My name is Hail."

"Nice to meet you, Hail," Eclipse intervened, shooting a warning look at Avalanche that she was fairly sure her friend missed entirely.

"And your name is?" The other dragon inquired.

"Oh, right, uh, I'm Eclipse." She attempted a smile, but it felt more like she was baring her teeth.

"Right…" The dragon frowned at her slightly.

The 'smile' dropped from her snout and she met the gaze with an equally challenging look.

"And I'm Avalanche!" This time, it was Eclipse's best friend who stepped in, introducing herself with bubbling enthusiasm.

This time, Eclipse cracked a real smile at Avalanche's overeagerness. Hail grinned too, but there was a shadow in her eyes that unnerved Eclipse.

"Nice to meet both of you," Hail said. "Er, if you don't mind me asking… Who are your parents?"

Both Eclipse and Avalanche suddenly bristled, and Hail took a step back. She couldn't have known… but still, Eclipse thought, wincing.

"I- sorry," Hail muttered. "But-"

Eclipse shot her a warning look. Avalanche gets real touchy when we talk about that, and I rather not see this nice dragon get their snout clawed off.

"Then where did your names come from?" Hali's eyes held genuine curiosity, but when Eclipse opened her mouth to deliver the well-rehearsed lie about their parents having strange fascinations with nature, when she realized.

 _The reason I mistook her for Avalanche…_ She squinted at the dragon, something nibbling at the back of her thoughts. _Oh- she's... she's a hybrid. Of what two tribes?_ IceWing was clearly the first one; save for her talons, wings, and tail, her whole body was icy blue like the first frost of winter.

 _First frost of winter; that's pretty good! I'll have to use that for something later…_ Eclipse thought to herself, her talons twitching. _Wish I had a scroll handy…_

Brushing the thoughts away, she focused back on the dragon. Her talons, wings, and tail were bright golden, like sunlight, or the sky right before sunset… or a SkyWing. _Aha, she's a SkyWing/IceWing… just like me._

"We're not… we're not blood-pure dragons," Eclipse admitted, fairly sure this wouldn't garner a negative reaction based on her observation of Hail's heritage.

The blue and gold dragon jolted upwards as though she had been electrocuted. "You're hybrids? L- like m- like, you're from two different tribes?"

Avalanche looked away sourly, and muttered, "Three."

"Three?!" Hail's mouth dropped open. "Whoa."

"Yeah," Eclipse said shortly, not wanting to dwell on the subject.

Hail's eyes narrowed as though she was trying to figure out something.

"RainWing;" she said, pointing at Avalanche, who hissed dangerously. "SeaWing; and… IceWing?"

She nodded once, sharply, still hissing ever-so-softly.

"And you're… SkyWing, obviously… but IceWing? Because of the spines?" Hail continued. Eclipse graced her with a nod as well. "You're a thrice-blood as well?"

Her spines rose involuntarily at the word. "I prefer hybrid."

"Right, right." At least Hail had the grace to look ashamed. Then she tilted her head thoughtfully. "But what's the third?"

In answer, Eclipse tilted her wings, revealing the stark white undersides, coupled with the shadowed spray across them.

"NightWing," Hail breathed, either reverence or disgust in her voice; Eclipse couldn't tell which. "You were born under a full moon?"

Definitely disgust. Maybe a little hatred mixed in, Eclipse decided.

 _So you're going to tell her the truth?_ The voice in her head asked, amused.

 _Don't be a fish-face._ Eclipse wrinkled her nose.

She let herself slowly tune into the blue-gold dragon's threads, searching for the answer that would win her favour with the cool hybrid.

Still irritated, uh… happy? What? Why is she happy? Okay, that's either worried or calm… It was hard to tell with the gauzy strands. _Why doesn't every dragon have strands like Avalanche's?_

Her friend's short, thick, vibrantly coloured strands made figuring out her emotions as easy as stealing treasure from a sleeping dragon.

Suddenly, Eclipse realized that Hail was still waiting for her answer to the question of the full moons.

"No, no, of course not!" Eclipse giggled nervously.

Hail's eyes narrowed for the briefest of seconds, before the calm mask was set across her features once more. "Good."

 _No need to tell her I was born under two…_ she thought, one talon tapping the ground nervously.

 _It hardly matters; you're not a real NightWing,_ the voice jeered.

 _And proud of it!_ She snapped back fiercely. _I'm glad that there wasn't enough NightWing blood in me to give me either power fully!_

 _Right, because a voice in your head and the power to read emotions- like that's so hard -is such a blessing,_ the voice retorted caustically.

 _You be quiet!_ Eclipse yelled.

"You all right there?" Hail asked, sounding genuinely worried.

"Fine, fine," Eclipse lied quickly, and another shadow crossed Hail's eyes.

"Well, we should get going…" Avalanche said uncomfortably.

Suddenly, a sound like a mountain crumbling, thunder booming, and a thousand dragons whispering in harmony rose out of the earth.

Eclipse immediately clapped her talons over her sensitive ears. Avalanche shrieked in surprise, and Hail ducked for cover once more.

"What's happening?" Avalanche yelled over the noise, but it only grew in response.

The whispering suddenly strengthened, and the words became clearer as the voices melded together. Eclipse realized that they were all saying the same thing, but with the differences in timing and pitch, it was impossible to tell what.

 _Well, it's something important,_ the voice said decisively. _Maybe it's time you proved yourself as a NightWing._

 _I'm not a NightWing!_ Eclipse shouted futilely. She gave up on the voice and focused on the chorus of whispering.

"What are they saying?" Hail shouted.

"I- one second! I think I can figure it out!" Eclipse cried back.

She pulled her talons away from her ears, letting the whispering flood in, threatening to deafen her. Accept it in… take it in… untangle. Untangle. She breathed out with the ebb and flow of the whispering, and reached into the part of her that held her deepest focus.

 _Focus. Untangle._ She repeated the words in her head like a mantra as she felt for the threads of the ghost-dragons. Squeezing her eyes shut, she reached for the threads that always spun around her.

Finally, she found them, a tangled mess, swirling around Hail, Avalanche, and Eclipse, but with others shooting out in all directions. Inside her head, she visualized walking into the middle of the threads, and suddenly she could feel the cobwebby mess stretching across her scales.

The feeling was deeply unnerving, but she persevered, picking out a thread at a time. They weren't like the threads she was used to; instead of a thickness, texture, and colour, they were all gauzy and white.

This is going to take forever! We're all going to be deaf by the time I'm done! Eclipse thought, frustration making her rip the thread she held into little bits. The voices pressed against her, a headache beginning in her skull.

She ripped more of them, the satisfying thwip as they pulled free from the rest egging her on.

After tearing up several talonfuls, she suddenly realized the voices had lessened. _Time or actions,_ her voice murmured. _Caused by time or actions._

 _Time… the voices have been here for several minutes… or actions, me tearing up the strings!Thanks voice!_

She swiped her claw through the thickest bundle, wasting no time shredding them. The voices receded once more, only about a dozen remaining.

The words were becoming clearer, and Eclipse strained to hear what they were saying.

 _Fire… Ice… Darkness… Light… blight… shadows… hope… secrets… burden…_

The headache worsened. Eclipse gritted her teeth, reaching for the last few threads.

Thwip!

Thwip!

Thwip!

Only one remained.

Her head felt like someone had dropped a volcano on it and then the volcano had erupted, but she tensed herself and bore it.

She glanced up at the last thread. It glimmered silver, catching the sunlight as it waved softly in the wind.

She reached for it, preparing to yank it in half and finally cut her suffering away, when the another booming sound threw her out of focus.

"ECLIPSE!" Avalanche shrieked.

She blinked her eyes open, returning to the real world. Hail was staring at her like she'd suddenly sprouted another set of wings on her snout.

The clearing was doused in golden light, but in the centre spun the same silver thread that Eclipse had seen with her mind's eye.

"It comes," she muttered hoarsely, then all noise was drowned out as one ethereal voice boomed;

 _Fire and Ice, Dark and Light, Unless you seek them, face their blight. Beware the shadows with secrets, and the rays with hope, for they carry the burden at the end of your rope._

Eclipse's head gave one final throb, then her headache disappeared.

As did her consciousness.

And in the middle of the clearing, a silver thread spinning and the last words of a prophecy echoing around them, Eclipse fainted.

* * *

 **I could get used to these lovely cliffhangers.**

 **Anyways, loads of mystical magical things happening over here, hope you could follow.**

 **For those who were confused and for those who still are, given Eclipse's smaller portion of NightWing blood, she can't read minds fully, only sees 'threads' that represent emotions. More'll be explained as the story goes on, hopefully.**

 **That's all for today, see y'all… probably in months, knowing how slowly I get around to writing…**

 **~Pondfrost**


End file.
